The material on this page comes from a variety of sources. Credits to Rich Kleinhenz, SparkBoy, Alienz_2k, Monolith Productions, Home of the Underdogs, Teo phil, myself, and whoever wrote the Claw wikipedia article. No-one's going to sue me, all right? OK, let's move on.

Contents

Loved by many...feared by all. Captain Claw, surveyor of the 7 seas, is perhaps the greatest pirate ever to grace the Animalian Lore Realms. His courage? Legendary. His followers? Loyal to the death. His claws? Well, let’s just say that more than a few sailors have permanent reminders of their razor-sharp tips.

Several years ago a proclamation, signed by the King, was issued to the realm. This proclamation read:

For numerous crimes against the Realm, and for the repeated destruction and theft of the property of the Cocker Spaniard Kingdom, and for a complete and utter disregard for the authority of the Crown, a bounty in the amount of 1,000,000 gold pieces is hereby issued for the capture, dead or alive, of Captain Nathaniel J. Claw, dreaded pirate, enemy of the Realm, and known scallywag.

Because of this proclamation, every bounty hunter and magistrate in the Realm has sought to capture the elusive Captain Claw. Many have tried to capture this infamous pirate, but none have succeeded—until now. Claw's ship is overtaken on the high-seas by Captain Le Rauxe, a high-ranking officer in the King’s service and a pompous and unscrupulous dog. Subsequently, Claw’s ship is scuttled, and Claw and his crew are captured and taken to La Roca, a prison run by the Cocker Spaniards. While imprisoned Claw discovers a letter written by Edward Tobin, a former prisoner executed for crimes against the Crown. Tobin’s letter tells of the existence of the Amulet of Nine Lives—a mystical amulet that, according to myth, provides the wearer with near immortality. With his strength and hope renewed by the promise of adventure, Claw breaks out of his prison cell and begins a quest to reclaim his crew and locate the remaining gems for the Amulet of Nine Lives. With a million "golden" reasons to separate Claw from his head, every servant of the Realm will be out to stop Claw from completing his quest. If he fights skillfully, Claw may avoid death and uncover the remaining gems for the Amulet of Nine Lives. With enough luck, ultimately Claw may complete his quest and reassemble the powerful Amulet of Nine Lives.

The game is a left-to-right side-scroller. You navigate the titular character, Claw, through a series of tricky levels, fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and collecting treasure and powerups. The object of the game is to obtain the amulet of nine lives, as well as nine gems for it. Gems can be obtained by fighting bosses, and you will also need map pieces to find the location of additional levels. The game contains 14 single player levels, which can also be used for multiplayer. There is a level editor available. Feel free to download the demo, or view the next section on how to acquire the game.

Claw is no longer sold, but there are many places where it can be downloaded for free. You can start with the Claw CD rip available for download on this site. While only 29 MB in size, this version doesn't contain any cutscenes. It also has audio files compressed in MP3 format, resulting in slightly lower quality of sound effects.

If you badly want the cutscenes, there's a complete DVD version of Claw available. You can either download it directly or, preferably, get it via BitTorrent. (For the latter, you will need a BitTorrent client like uTorrent). Whichever you choose, the file is about 1.30 GB in size. Dial-up users, you have been warned.

Alternately, you can download the cutscenes converted into .avi format here (25MB). You won't be able to play them with the game.

LEVEL 2

Outside the prison, on its walls. A dangerous voyage above pits of tar, towers with cannons and even more guards. The first boss, Le Rauxe is at the level's end. He is just a sword fighter, relatively easy to defeat. He has the first gem.View Level 2 Walkthrough

LEVEL 3

A journey through the mountains and woods... and dark underground mines, filled with treasure and traps. Robbers and cutthroats everywhere in the area. On this level are 3 trees filled with treasure, but they are hard to find.View Level 3 Walkthrough

LEVEL 4

Dark forests, complete with swamps, shrubbery, spike-traps and thieves that guard key areas. The second boss (with the second gem) is here - Katherine. She is the female version of Robin Hood. View Level 4 Walkthrough

LEVEL 6

A big coastal town with nice cozy houses. Most of the level is, unfortunately, underground, in the city sewers. The third boss (and gem) Wolvington is here, a better fighter with some magic skills.View Level 6 Walkthrough

LEVEL 8

A level that brings the player to many ships and platforms between them. Many sailors and pitfalls. Fourth boss - Gabriel, that has to be killed using intelligence. Another gem. View Level 8 Walkthrough

LEVEL 9

The pirates' lair. It's one of the most dangerous levels in the game as it is filled with really many nasty traps. And the pirates are passionate warriors that are hard to deal with.View Level 9 Walkthrough

LEVEL 11

A remarkably beautiful level in blue/purple/green caverns filled with minerals and precious stones. Many pools of clean water and wonders of nature... but also many traps and the extremely difficult areas with the moving platforms. Mercats and Sirens inhabit the place and don't like intruders. At all.View Level 11 Walkthrough

LEVEL 12

The second set of caves, but this time, mostly green/grey/black. Not beautiful at all. Dark, ominous, filled with even more hostile amphibians and deadly as earthquakes shake the whole place. Sixth boss - Aquatis, difficult to understand how to defeat him (Hint: throw dynamite in the hole behind him). Sixth gem.View Level 12 Walkthrough

LEVEL 13

A nice island foiled by sailors that offer even harder fight than on the Shipyards. Also much treasure, traps, tricky areas and the seventh boss, Red Tail, who has the seventh and eighth gems. View Level 13 Walkthrough

LEVEL 14

A dark and mysterious temple filled with lava, fire traps and unearthly obstacles. The monks that abide it are excellent fighters and are the hardest enemies of the game. The level is the hardest of all levels. The last boss is here - the high priest, Omar, who uses powerful magic and guards the last gem - the biggest of all.View Level 14 Walkthrough

Weapons

Melee (Ctrl) - Claw uses his sword as his default attack, and it remains useful throughout the game as it requires no ammo. Claw will punch and kick if enemies get too close. You can also attack while ducked, which halves your damage but makes you less vulnerable.

Throw (Z) - Claw can also pick up and throw enemies like a wrestler doing a body slam. This does a small amount of damage to the enemy, but will crush and kill all other enemies he lands on. Exploding barrels can also be thrown.

Pistol (Alt -- toggled via Shift) - ammo for the pistol is common and (unrealistically) you can fire as rapidly as you like. Unfortunately it is difficult to shoot while jumping, and in the later levels your enemies build up a resistance to it.

Name

Image

Description

Shot

+5 bullets

Shot bag

+10 bullets

Death bag

+25 bullets (only in custom levels)

Dynamite (Alt -- toggled via Shift) - dynamite is a highly strategic weapon, since you can throw it in a curved arc and can decide how far it travels. Its main uses are clearing out crowded areas below you and smashing crates that you can't reach with your sword.

Name

Image

Description

Dynamite

+5 dynamite

Magic Claw (Alt -- toggled via Shift) - the strongest weapon in the game, magic claws will kill all enemies in their path when fired. Unfortunately ammo is very rare and you won't be able to use it often.

Name

Image

Description

Magic glow

+5 Magic Claws

Magic starglow

+10 Magic Claws

Magic claw

+25 Magic Claws (only in custom levels)

Powerups

Name

Image

Description

Bread and water

+5 health. Can be found in 1st and 2nd level.

Apple and grapes

+5 health. Can be found in 3rd and 4th level.

Three bottles of milk

+5 health. Can be found in 5th level.

Bottle of milk

+5 health. Can be found in 6th level.

Fish

+5 health. Can be found in 7th and 8th level.

Cheese and juice

+5 health. Can be found in 9th and 10th level.

Mushrooms

+5 health. Can be found in 11th and 12th level.

Tropical fruits

+5 health. Can be found in 13th level.

Meat and grapes

+5 health. Can be found in 14th level.

Health potion 1

+10 health

Health potion 2

+15 health

Health potion 3

+25 health

White catnip

This powerup speeds Claw up and enables him to jump higher than usual for a short period of time (usually for 15 secs). His attack is also doubled. It comes in two colors, red and yellow. If you find one, keep an eye out for secret areas.

Red catnip

This powerup speeds Claw up and enables him to jump higher than usual for a short period of time (usually for 30 secs). His attack is also doubled. It comes in two colors, red and yellow. If you find one, keep an eye out for secret areas.

Fire sword

Turns your default sword attack into a ranged magic shooting weapon as deadly as a magic claw...for a limited time.

Ice sword

Turns your default sword attack into a ranged magic shooting weapon as deadly as a magic claw...for a limited time.

Lightning sword

Turns your default sword attack into a ranged magic shooting weapon as deadly as a magic claw...for a limited time.

Invisibility

Enemies can't see Claw (although they can still damage him by walking into him). For some reason seagulls are not affected by this.

Invulnerability

Claw is immune to all attacks. Note that he can still die by falling into goo or landing on spikes.

Extra life

Grants an extra life to the player. You can have max nine lives.

Ammo curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players lost all their ammo.

Freeze curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players are frozen for 5 seconds

Health curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players lost half of their health.

Death curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players die immediatelly.

Magic curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players lost all their Magic Claws.

Treasure curse

Only in multiplayer mode. After collecting this curse by one player, other players lost 20% of their current score.

Treasure

There is a huge amount of treasure in Claw, sometimes hundreds of items
per level. The player receives an extra life per every million points (in the last version per every 500.000 points).

Name

Image

Value

Additional information

Coin

100 points

The commonest treasure type in the game.

Gold bar

500 points

Very often in crates.

Ring

1500 points

None

Chalice

2500 points

None

Pearl necklace

2500 points

Even though Monolith decided not to use them, we can find pearls in custom levels.

Seagulls (levels 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10): Probably the commonest enemy in the game, seagulls will swoop down on you from the skies. They are very fast and hard to hit, and can be deadly when you're making a crucial jump.

White Guards (levels 5 and 6): not really dangerous opponents, these sword fighters can parry and block your attacks sometimes. They are VERY weak against your pistol (image on the right).

Black Guards (levels 5 and 6): the same as the above, except a bit tougher (image on the left).

Crabs (level 7): extremely tough enemies that can do a lot of damage to you. Their shells mean you can't damage them with your sword or pistol. Only when attacking or moving are they vulnerable (image on the left).

Red Tail Pirates (levels 7, 8, 13): They are loyal Red Tail's warriors. In level 7 they are easily killed, but in level 13 the block most of your hits and in groups are very dangerous (image on the right).

Bear Sailors (levels 7, 8, 13): Bear Sailors will crush you if you get too close, but are quite easy to dispatch otherwise. If you do fall into their embrace, press the attack button as fast as you can to escape (image on the left).

Peg Leg Pirates (levels 9 and 10): Except perhaps for the tiger guards, these are the hardest enemies in the game. They have a lethal pistol attack, and are extremely hard to hit.
They are also immune to bullets. Fortunately they have a major weakness: if you hit them in their wooden leg they will be paralysed for a few seconds...long enough for you to finish them off. If you have to fight more than one at a time then you are in serious trouble (image in the left).

Crazy Hook Pirates (levels 9 and 10): Crazy Hook Pirates have quite a long reach, and will immediately lash back when hit. It is difficult to kill one without losing health. Use pistols or magic claws against these (image on the right).

Mercats (levels 11 and 12): These are trident-carrying menaces who will blast you if they see you. Not only do their shots do a lot of damage (20 per hit) they are very difficult to dodge. They can sometimes block bullets.

Sirens (levels 11 and 12): Sirens are usually found in the presence of Mercats (yes, they are slutty) but are harmless on their own. Their attack does no damage, but will paralyse you for a few seconds, which is usually deadly if Mercats are around. If you are really unlucky you will get caught between two Sirens, who will keep you in a state of constant paralysis with alternating attacks. If this happens the only way to escape is to kill yourself. Escape --> End Life.

Fish (levels 11 and 12): These are always found in water, and will jump out and try to bite you if you get too close to their domain. These are usually nuisances rather than actual threats, but if you're standing over death tiles they can quite easily knock you off your platform and kill you.

Chameleons (levels 13 and 14): by far these are the most annoying enemies in the game. You will hate them after only a few minutes playing level 13. They will lash out with their tongues, and can blend in with their surroundings, making them impossible to hit. Use dynamite to kill these whenever you can.

Tiger Guards (level 14): the hardest enemies in the game. They can jump, pounce, slash and are almost impossible to hit. Other than a magic claw, the only way to beat them is to stay mobile yourself. If you see them preparing to pounce, jump backwards and then hit them with a high slash attack. They come in two types: red (image on the left, as you already know) and white (image on the right). There appears to be no difference between the two.

Bosses

Le Rauxe, (level 2)
The easiest way to defeat him is to stand in the starting position i.e. don't move at all. Then he'll come to you, now start attacking with your sword without a stop attack & attack until he's dead (i.e keep pressing sword key and he'll soon die.)

Katherine, (level 4)
Jump towards Katherine and hit her with a high slash attack. As soon as your feet hit the ground, jump away from her and repeat. If you happen to stun Katherine, kneel down in front of her and attack as many times as you can. Running away does not work against Katherine, as her whip will be able to hit you wherever you go. Keep jumping and you'll kill Katherine, quickly!

Wolvington, (level 6)
Jump towards Wolvington and hit him with a high slash attack. Immediately attack Wolvington with a low slash to force him back. Now, quickly jump towards him and repeat. Wolvington will shoot magic attacks at you, so be prepared to dodge like crazy! If you stay fairly close to him, he won't shoot attacks at you, but he will try close range attacks, so be careful. Keep it up and you'll waste Wolvington!

Gabriel, (level 8)
Jump up the disappearing platforms to the top and then jump to the right and hit the switch on the mast. This will tilt the cannon so that it's pointing at Gabriel. Then next time Gabriel fires a cannonball at you, it will hit him instead. Now, just jump back up the platforms and repeat until Gabriel does himself in! Fend off the enemies that hop down to fight you, and try the best you can to avoid the explosions while you're hitting that switch and you'll win!

Marrow, (level 10)
Wait by the pit and hit the parrot when you see it fly towards you. After you hit the parrot three times, the bridge will appear. Run across the bridge and use a jumping high slash attack on Marrow. Once you hit Marrow five times, the parrot will pick Marrow up and fly to the opposite side of the screen. Quickly jump up to the platform and wait for the parrot again. Keep repeating until you mash Marrow!

Aquatis, (level 12)
Use your sword to hit the three tentacles and get them out of your way. Now, run to the right edge of the platform and heave a stick of dynamite by holding the button down, into a small hole just behind Aquatis. The dynamite will explode in the hole and shake loose a stalactite from the ceiling. The stalactite will fall and do damage to Aquatis. Now, quickly run as far to the left as you can to avoid Aquatis' tentacle frenzy and then repeat. There is no need to stand on the small floating platform next to Aquatis for any reason. Keep it up and you'll soon abolish Aquatis!

Red Tail, (level 13)
The first thing you want to do, is to hop up onto the platform above you. You'll be torn to shreds if you stay on the ground. Stay up high to avoid most of Red Tail's attacks. Once you are up above, try and stay right over Red Tail as he runs back and forth. When he jumps up to your platform, kneel down and attack when he lands from his jump. He should then jump back down to the ground. Stay up there and repeat until Red Tail is roasted! If you'd like a little extra help with Red Tail, stay on the bottom and run like crazy to the right. Make a running jump out into the water and you will land on a hidden platform
in the water. Keep going to the right and grab the special goodies then ride the moving platform back to the battle!

Omar, (level 14)
Omar has protective shields going around him, so your special attacks aren't going to do any damage on him. Drop down to the area below and look at Omar to see what shield he has around himself. Omar switches between a Fire shield and an Ice shield, so if you see a Fire shield, climb up the ladder and follow the right path. Climb down the next ladder and go to the right. Grab the Ice Sword and return to Omar. Now, shoot an Ice bolt through the opening in Omar's shield to do damage. If you see an Ice shield, climb up the ladder and follow the left path. Climb down the next ladder and go to the left. Grab the Fire Sword and return to Omar. Now, shoot a Fire bolt through the opening in Omar's shield to do damage. Keep doing this until you obliterate Omar. Now, climb up the ladder and ride the lift up to the top. You'll need to time your jumps over the lava and Omar's attacks and jump over to him. Once you are next to Omar, attack him with your sword to do damage. Now, go over to the opposite side and repeat until you win the game!

Yes there are. (Although you won't be able to save the game if you use them)

Can I make my own levels?

There is a custom level editor that can be downloaded here. Create a subfolder in your Claw folder called /EDITOR and unzip everything there. Make sure you read the help file thoroughly before trying to build your own levels.

How do I play a level someone else has made?

Download it and unzip it to your /CUSTOM folder. Then start Claw, click "Single Player"..."Custom Levels" and then pick it from the list.

When I play the game Claw only does little jumps instead of big ones. How to I fix this?

I started it in early 2005 to host my custom levels. In mid-2006 I joined with Zuczek, who also had a Claw site. In late 2006 we got the layout we have now. These days the site is available in ten languages, and has greatly expanded from its humble beginnings.

The makers of Claw have had no involvement, the Claw Recluse is 100% run by fans.

For much more on this site's history, the people involved, and the Claw community in general, visit The Claw Museum. Don't forget to leave a comment!